Coffee, without the bean, is what startup Compound Foods promises, and the company just raised $4.5 to help make that goal a reality. TechCrunch was first to report today that Compound has raised $4.5 million in Seed funding from investors including Lowercarbon Capital, SVLC, Humboldt Fund, Collaborative Fund, Maple VC, Petri Bio and angel investors. This brings the total amount raised by the startup to $5.3 million.
Instead of growing and harvesting coffee beans, Compound uses synthetic biology to recreate “coffee” on the molecular level. Compound Food Founder and CEO, Maricel Saenz, didn’t provide much detail to TechCrunch as to how the company re-creates coffee, but did they use sustainable ingredients and far less than the 140 liters of water it takes to grow one cup of joe.
Compound isn’t the only company using such synthetic techniques to recreate particular food and drinks. Seattle-based Atomo is also in the molecular coffee biz, making its synthetic java out of upcycled vegan ingredients. Atomo introduced a ready-to-drink cold brew canned coffee last year. Endless West makes molecular whiskey. And Climax Foods uses data and plant-based ingredients to re-create cheese.
Though it’s rather grim to think about, as the pandemic and climate change highlight how fragile our agricultural and supply chain logistics are, there is a real opportunity for synthetic food and beverage makers to grow. These companies can recreate foods we know and love with fewer land and water resources. Additionally, because these foods are manufactured in facilities and not grown outdoors, they aren’t reliant on growing seasons and are less susceptible to catastrophic weather conditions.
Of course the most important factor for any synthetic food and drink company is taste. If the finished product doesn’t taste good, all the molecules in the world won’t convince people to buy it.
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